US2659046A - Geophysical exploration using radioactive material - Google Patents

Description

J. J. ARPS Nov. 10, 1953 GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION USING RADIO ACTIVE MATERIAL Filed 061;. 19, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l I dun Jacob Arps M y J. J. ARPS Nov. 10, 1953 GEOPHYSICAL. EXPLORATION USING RADIO ACTIVE MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1948 FIG. 4

Fig.2

i II! 4 Patented Nov. 10, 1953 sat GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION USING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL 27 Claims.

The present invention relates to signal transmission, more particularly to methods and apparatus for transmitting signals from one point to another through a fluid medium, and it has for an object the provision of new and improved methods of and apparatus for transmitting signals from a bore hole to the surface of the earth, which signals may be indicative, for example, of one or more characteristics of the earths formation.

In transmission of signals from a bore hole to the surface, as in electrical logging of formations traversed by bore holes, it has been customary in the past first to drill the hole, then to remove the drilling equipment, and finally to lower into the bor hole a suitable arrangement of electrodes suspended from an electrical cable. In this sequence of operations the necessity for interruption of the drilling operation and the removal of the drilling tools from the bore hole constitutes an undesirable feature.

In my copending application Serial No. 783,280, filed October 31, 1947, of which the present application is a continuation-in-part, there are disclosed new and improved methods and apparatus which make it possible to transmit signals from a bore hole to the surface without the use of electrical connections extending from the surface of the earth to the formation being investigated. When applied to logging, the logging operation is carried on simultaneously with the drilling operation and it is continuous in nature so that an operator can observe at all times characteristics of the formation being drilled instead of having to wait until the hole has been completed before obtaining this information.

In the main, the method disclosed in my copending application comprises flowing a stream of carrier fluid from the bore hole to the top of the bore hole, releasing into said stream a detectable tracer representative of the ph sical condition of th formation being drilled and detecting the tracer at the top of the bore hole to obtain an indication or signal representing the physical condition or characteristic of the hole. The detectable tracer may be a radioactive sub stance, such as radiophosphorus, radiocadmium, or radioiodine which may be released, as from an electrode by electrolysis, and in amounts proportional to the resistivity or conductivity or spontaneous potential of the formation, or the tracer may be the cuttings irradiated by neutron bomhardment. The proportionality may result from variation in amplitude or frequency of release or both may be varied in transmitting signals of two variables.

In my aforesaid copending application, the release of tracer into the mud stream is made to be proportional to the signal it is desired to transmit to the surface. During the drilling process it sometimes happens that the rate of flow of mud changes. obstruction of flow passages through the bit, a

change in steam pressure on the pumps, or be-' cause the driller feels that the drilling rate can be improved by a faster or slower mud circulation rate. As a result, there is a change in the signal detected at the surface of the earth. For example, in the case of an amplitude modulated signal, the amplitude of the signal detected at the surface is dependent upon th concentration of radioactive tracer material in a given volume of mud, so that a change in the rate of flow will cause an inverse change in the strength of the received signal.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved signal transmitting method and apparatus in which a signal transmitted from a bore hol to the surface of the earth through the mud stream is independent of the rate of flow of the mud stream.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for transmitting signals from a bore hole to the surface of the earth comprising the step of and apparatus for releasing the tracer material so .as to compensate for variations in the rate of flow of the mud stream.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a method of and ap paratus for transmitting signals from a bore hole to the surface of the earth in which the tracer material s released at a rate proportional to the rate of flow of the mud stream, thereby to compensate for variations in the rate of flow.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for transmitting signals from a bore hole to the surface of the earth in which the tracer material is released independently of the rate of r flow of the mud stream but wherein the received,

signal is modified in response to the rate of flow thereby to compensate for variations in the latter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for transmitting signals from a bor hole to the surface of the earth which includes the step of releasing radioactive tracer material from electrodes through which current is passed andwherein polarization and the accumulation of colloidal materials in the region of one of the sig- This may be due to temporary provide a. method ofiand apparatus for logging.

bore hole formations whereby-the received signal is made to increase with the resistivity of the formation being drilled. An advantage of this arrangement is that a larger or-higher. received signal is indicative of high resistivity .ofthaformation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved bore hole. signal transmitting apparatus comprising one or more radioactive electrodes or sources of radioactivity which are located insidev of a suitable shielding containersoas toprevent operators and workers from: being, injured, by the. radioactive rays when the apparatus is handled.

A further object of the present invention. is to provide a new and improved combined drill and signal transmitting apparatus in which the latter can be readily assembled as a subassembly and then secured to and, in effect made a part of the drilling apparatus.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved radioactive signal injectors.

A further object of the present invention. resides in new and improved signal transmitting and logging methods and apparatus providing an increasedefiiciencyof generation and release of radioactive tracer material from the electrodes.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the. ensuing description of illustrative embodiments thereof, in the course of which. reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is. a longitudinalvertical section through a well being drilled with apparatus constructed.

in-v accordance; with. and. utilizingthe. methods. of the, present. invention;

Fig; 2 is'an enlargedaxial. cross-sectional view through a specially constructed d-rill collar form ing the lower portion. ofthe drill string illustrated in Fig. 1 included within the. dotted line region;

Fig. 3-.is a fragmentary view of. a modified form of construction of the lower portion of the drill string;

Fig. 4 is'a. similar view of still another embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken along the line 5--5- of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a schematic arrangement showing inner signal electrodes.- associated with the lower portion of a drill string connected in parallel with the outside logging electrodes to provide a higher signal for a higher resistivity formation;

Fig. '7 is a graph illustrating the relationship between signal. strength and formation resistance for the parallel arrangement of Fig. 6;

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate other embodiments of the present inventionincluding apparatus at the surface of the earth for automatically compensating for velocity fluctuations occurring during operations; and

Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate'apparatus for removing thetracer from the fluid stream.

The method of the present invention is use- 111 in the transmission of various; signals from a d bore hole to the surface of the earth through a circulating fluid and it is especially advantageous in bore hole logging. As applied to logging, the method comprises measuring a given characteristic such as conductivity, resistance, natural potential, temperature and the like, of geological strata at a determined depth within a bore hole and simultaneously releasing into the drilling fluid at or adjacent a point of such measurement a radioactive tracer in such manas to be accurately representative of the value. of the. characteristic under observation. The release may be either amplitude or frequency modulated, that is, the release of the tracer'into the circulating fluid stream may be contimious. butv vary in quantity with respect to time, which may be visualized graphically as tracer concentration amplitude versus time, or the release may be intermittent or periodic with respect to time which maybe visualized graphically as tracer variation frequency versus time assuming it is the former for purpose of description, it is the quantity or amount of tracer released into the drilling fluid that varies in accordance with the beforementioned given characteristic. This process is continued as the drilling progresses, and as the characteristic of the formation changes, the amount of radioactive tracer introduced into the drilling fluid is accordingly changed. Circulation of the mud stream in the bore hole is utilized to carry the varying quantities of radioactive tracer to the top of the bore hole. Thus by measuring the radioactivity of' the mud leaving the well and comparing'it with the radioactivity of the mud. entering the well the increase in radioactivity can be measured. This increase is in turn a func tion of the. change in magnitude of the charac. teristic being measured at the bottom of the well. If the input mud is known tobe substantially free'of radioactivity then. the amount of radioactivity of the output mud will be directly indicative. of the magnitude: of the characteristic measured. in the bottom of. the well. By correlating specific input and output mud radio.- activity increments. and by relating them tothe depth. of. the point of measurement the subsurface formations may be readily logged, as will now be. described.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the apparatus there illustrated for drilling a well or bore hole l in. accordance. with modern conventional rotary drilling practice, employs a circulating fluid, such as a suspension of clay solids in water and conventionally termed rotary mud or simply mud, to carry the drill cuttings out of the bore hole as the drilling proceeds. The upper portion of the hole is lined with a surface casing 2, which usually extends but a comparatively short distance into the well. At its upper end the casing 2 is provided with a side outlet pipe 3 discharging into a shale shaker A having the function of separating the formation cuttings carried upward by the drill mud from the mud itself. The mud passes from the shaker 4 to a conventional mud ditch 5 through a radioactivity measuring devicet and a discharge nozzle 1.

Extending into the well through the casing 2 and well bore 1- is a conventional hollow drill string designated generally by the numeral 8, which is connected at its lower end. to a drill bit 9 having discharge opening Ill-adjacent the cutting teeth or cutting edge of the bit. A Kelly joint i I is connected to the upper end of the drill string and extends through a rotary table l2a mounted conventionally on the floor of a derrick. Rotation of the table |2a engages the squared sides of the Kelly joint 5 I and thereby efiects rotation of the drill string s in the usual manner to cause the bit 9 to out through the formation. The upper end of the Kelly joint H is connected to the usual rotary hose swivel i2 and the entire drill string is suspended from a traveling block is which is adapted to be raised and lowered in the derrick by means of a cable ii in accordance with conventional practice.

The apparatus for circulating the drilling fluid through the well bore comprises the mud ditch 5 previously referred to, settling pit i5, suction pit l6, and mud pump I? having a suction pipe it leading to the suction pit and a mud discharge pipe IE; cominunciating with the drill pipe 3 through the swivel I 2.

The volumetric flow of mud flowing through the discharge pipe ill and well is measured by a fiuid meter 2d which may be of any conventional type.

The depth of the well may be measured by any conventional method and this is commonly done by adding together the measurements of the lengths of all sections of drill pipe in the well, and by suitable marking of the lrelly to determine how much of its length has descended into the well. However, depth measurement may also be conventionally obtained by suitable measuring devices well known in the One of the latter is diagrammatically represented in Fig. 1. It is a depth meter 2i operated by a measuring line 22 associated with a measuring pulley and ex tending over pulleys 2t and 2'5 to the traveling block 45. This device measures the depth of the well and the length of the drill pipe in the well in response to the movement of the traveling block as it follows the downward movement of the drill string into the well.

The lower portion or the drill s 'ing 8 includes a novel drill collar 2% constructed in accordance with the present invention. The drill collar and bit, while illustrated in Fig. 1, may be best understood irom Fig. 2 showing an axial cross section through the drill collar the drill bit 9, which is detachably attached to the lower end of the collar. The collar may comprise one or more sections of drill pipe having an increased wall thickness in order to provide additional weight bearing on the bit and to decrease the whipping action which might otherwise cause the hole to deviate from a straight line. A considerable portion of the exterior of the drill collar is provided with a wrapping or covering 27 of insulating material, which may be any reasonably flexible material. Alternatively, the insulating material may be relatively inflexible, such, for example, as Bakelite which may be made in the form of a cylindrical casing and securely attached to the outside of the drill collar. A pair of spaced electrically conductive electrode rings 28 and 2', forming part of an amplitude modulated arrangement as assumed for descriptive purposes, are secured in spaced relationship to the exterior of the insulating sleeve 21.

The electrodes are connected to a suitable source of potential, to be described hereinafter, to eiieet a flow of current between them, the current flowing along the path indicated by the dotted lines SE} in Fig. 1. As shown, current flows through the drilling fluid into the earths formation in the neighborhood of the drill collar. The current flows from that electrode which is connected to the positive terminal of the voltage" source to the one connected to the negative ter 2&3 and the surrounding bore hole wall is reduced as much as possible relative to the resistance of the earths formation through which the current is flowing.

a very large extent upon the conductivity or resistivity of the formation in the region 32.

As the drilling operation progresses, the drill bit encounters in its downward travel formations of varying resistivity and, accordingly, the magnitude of current flow in the described circuit varies substantially proportionately to the conductivity of the formation encountered. The flow or current through the electrodes is utilized to release a radioactive tracer material from the electrodes electrolytic dissociation thereof into the drilling mud. Inasmuch as the current flow i dependent upon the conductivity of the formation or" the earths structure in the vicinity of the electrodes and the drill bit, the quantity of material thus released into solution in the drilling fluid is proportional to the conductivity of the formations and therefore indicative of the nature of the earths structure in that vicinity.

If the drilling fluid separating the two elec trode rings were stationary, the radioactive tracer, which may be in the form of ions en-w tering the solution, by electrolytic dissociation from the electrode 28, which may be composed of radioactive material as hereinafter more fully disclosed, would be carried slowly downward to the opposite electrode by the existing electro static field between the two electrodes and subsequently would be deposited upon the electrode 29. Under ordinary drilling conditions the mud surrounding the drill string is usually in a state of rapid motion upwardly, i. e., in a direction opposite to the very slow downward travel ten ency of the radioactive ions. Consequently, practically all of the radioactive ions released into the mud are immediately removed from the zone in which the electric field is present and remain in the mud as it is pumped to the earths surface where they can be detected. Moreover, the amount of radioactive material released into the mud is proportional to the magnitude of current flow between the electrodes and consequently is at any instant representative of the conductivity of the earths formation in the vicinity of the electrodes and thus representative of variations in the nature of the formation being drilled.

Generally stated, a radioactive tracer is utilized to represent the conductivity of the formation drilled. The tracer is gradually dispersed or introduced, in the vicinity of the formation being drilled, in successive increments of the drilling fluid column or stream rising in the well. The location of the formation may be ascertained by determining the rate of circulation of the fluid, as by considering the rate of Consequently, the magnitude of the current flow between the electrodes depends to car I see:

,iaz m, e emp'arison h is made in a well known manner by taking into account the time lag involved in the travel of a mud, log sample from the top of the hole to the formation at which the measurement is performed and from the formation back to the top of the bore hole. Correction for this time lag is effected by utilization of the indications of the fluid meter and the depth indicator 2! in a manner well known in the art, see,.for example, United States Patent No. 2,343,273, issued to John T; Hayward on February 22, 1944.

During the drilling process it sometimes appears that the rate of flow of fluid changes, due to temporary obstructions of the flow passages in the bit, a change in the steam pressure driving the mud circulating pump, or because the driller changes the circulation rate. The changes in the rate of flow of the fluid create changes in the detected signal at the earths surface which, in the case of the amplitude modulated signals described, is proportional to the con centration of radioaitive material in a given volume of mud and because of this, a change in the-rate of flow will cause an inverse change in the strength of the received signal.

One of the objects of the present invention is to eliminate changes in signal strength which are due to the fluctuations in the flow rate or velocity of the circulating mud.

Accordingly, in accordance with one of the important, features of the present invention the release of tracer material is proportioned to the velocity of the fluid. flow, whereby automatically to compensate for variations in the flow. One

5. stratum? can be; determ" ed and 1 its liti ation: can

I etween the= .radihactivity l content of the input and output mud to the well downward 1 so ar a ra; Or its I I s eredte ior 6 mounted 3 prop-or i1 thus generates iavoltagej proportionaltothje ;1

of fluid flow which is applied across the electrodes 2S and 29. The current flow across the electrodes is thus proportional to the conductivity of the earths formation in the vicinity of the drill bit and also to the rate of mud flow. Variations in mud flow cause variations in the applied voltage thereby automatically to compensate for variations in mud flow. Consequently, the radioactive material in the circulating stream detected by the detectors and 35 is proportional to the conductivity and substantially independent of variations in the rate of flow of the mud.

It has been found that if a straight direct cur rent is passed between two electrodes in a stream of rotary mud in the manner described above in connection with the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the positive electrode, or anode, will become polarized and colloids will also accumulate on, it. These interfere with the proper generation and release of the tracer materials into the fluid. It is an object of the present invention to eliminate these difficulties and to increase the eiiiciency in generating and releasing the tracer material. Another feature of the present invention resides in having larger amplitude indications to represent higher formation resistance A further feature is to provide an apparatus which minimizes the danger to operators in handling the drill collar with its radioactive electrodes.

Referring now to Fig. 3, there is here illustrated a fragmentary view of a drill collar 66 having an internal mud flow passage 52 and surrounded by an insulating sleeve 55. These may be generally similar in construction to the previously described collar and sleeve 26 and 27.

In order to minimize injury to operators and to provide other advantages to be mentioned hereinafter, separate tracer material releasing electrodes and logging electrodes are utilized. The logging electrodes, which are indicated by reference characters 66 and 68, are placed outside of the sleeve $4 in the manner of the previously described electrodes 28 and 29. However, they do not include any radioactive material but may be of some suitably electrically conductive material, such as copper or lead. The tracer releasing electrodes, indicated by reference characters and 72, are mounted inside of the drill collar. They may take the form of fiat or arcuate plates spaced apart a short distance and mounted within a mud conducting passageway 14 inside housing 16. The housing is surrounded by a shielding sheath 13, which may be formed of lead, thereby to protect the operator handling the drill collar or the tracer releasing unit including the housing 75 and the electrodes H2 and 12.

The eficiency of the release of the tracer material from the tracer electrodes 70 and 12 has been found to increase with a higher rate of mud flow. For this reason the passageway It is made of reduced cross section so that the fiow of mud through it and past the tracer electrodes is higher than the flow of mud throughout the remainder of the system. One reason for the increased efficiency appears to be a cleaning oil from the el ctrodes of the colloidal material tending to collect upon them by the rapidly flowing mud. The high velocity mud flow also tends to prevent polarization.

The restricted mud flow passageway is can be designed to increase the mud velocity to as high as about eighty-eight lineal feet per second compared with a normal annulus flow of about five feet per second. For example, the normal annular cross sectional area between a six inch drill collar and a nine inch bore hole is 35.3 square inches. The diameter of the opening inside the drill collar is normally of the order of two or three inches. If the size of the restricted passageway it is made to be on the order of two square inches, a considerable increase in mud fiow in the region of the tracer electrode can be efiected to eliminate colloid and polarization diiiiculties.

The tracer electrodes are supplied with a voltage proportional to the rate of flow of the mud as in the previously described embodiment. In this embodiment, the generator is indicated by the reference character 8i]. It may be a direct current generator generating a voltage proportional to its speed of rotation. It is driven by a mud driven propeller 82 extending outside of a sealed compartment 85 in which the generator 8% and other apparatus is mounted. The connection between the propeller and generator may be through a shaft 86, or other types of coupling, such as a magnetic one, may be used. If a magnetic coupling is used, then the housing Hi may be made of suitable material so that it need not be apertured for the passage of any coupling elements.

In order further to prevent polarization and the accumulation of colloids, which are generally negatively charged, upon the positive tracer electrode, the polarity of the electrodes is periodically reversed. Continuous operation of the apparatus can be had even with periodic reversal of the polarity of the tracer electrodes if, as contem- 10 plated, both are made of identical radioactive tracer releasing materials. The reversal of current at periodic intervals injects colloidal materials accumulating during a previous period into the mud stream together with the tracer ions and the electrodes are also depolarized.

The periodic reversal of polarity of the tracer electrodes can be effected by a suitable reversing switch 88 mounted within housing 8d. The reversing switch may be periodically operated to reverse the connections of the tracer electrodes to the terminals of the generator. The switch may be operated-in a suitable manner, as by the generator through a shaft 99 and reduction gearing 92. The generator is connected to the switch through conductors 9G and the electrodes are connected to the switch through conductors 96.

In order to make the strength and intensity of the signal substantially proportional to the resistivity rather than indicative of the conductivity of the earths formation in the vicinity of the logging electrodes, the tracer and logging electrodes are connected in parallel. This is readily done by interconnecting electrodes 56 and it by conductor 98 and electrodes '68 and ?2 by conductor Hit.

A method of obtaining a signal which gets stronger with increasing formation resistance will now be described in connection with Figs. 6 and '7. Referring first to Fig. 6, it may be noted that the two sets of electrodes 56, 58 and iii, 12 are shown connected through the reversing switch 88 to a source of potential indicated simply as a battery 02 in such manner that the electrodes are in parallel. A resistor ltd having a resistance sufficient to provide a substantially constant current circuit is placed in series with the battery. As indicated, a current Io flows from the battery to the electrodes. It consists of two components, 11 flowing across the tracer electrodes i6, '52 and I2 flowing across the logging electrodes 66, 68.

It can be shown that in a circuit such as shown in Fig. 6, the signal current I1 (in terms of the substantially constant total current I0) is related to the formation resistance R2 between electrodes 66 and 68 (in terms of the constant mud resistance R1, between the tracer electrodes ii? and i2) by the following equation:

This relationship is graphically depicted in Fig. 7, from which it can be seen that the signal strength increases with the formation resistance.

The relationship, not being linear, has the advantage of showing great sensitivity to small changes in low resistivity values, while the sensitivity to changes in the higher resistance range is considerably less. In other words, this arrangement gives a greater amount of detail in the lower resistance values and less in the high resistance range. By changing the distance between the tracer electrodes, themud resistance R1 can be varied in such a way that the right amount of detail can be obtained in the proper formation resistance range. At the same time it will still be possible to record higher resistance values without running into high concentrations of radioactive material.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. It includes apparatus which can be assembled as a structural unit and thus readily secured to and made part of the "ll drilling apparatus. The drill collar, which is indicated by the reference character are is substantially solid but does include a circular .passageway I22 running lengthwise through it. A drill bit [2% with the usual openings I26 is secured to the lower end of the drill collar. An insulating shield I28 is secured to the exterior of the drill collar and the spaced apart nonradioactive logging electrodes E36 and 132 are secured to the'outside of the sleeve.

The apparatus includes structure defining a compartment i3 1 of an elongated nature and adapted to fit into an opening We in the drill collar. The compartment structure includes a generally channel-shaped main housing member :38 and a closure Hid adapted to be secured as by the screws M2 to the housing 13%. The radioactive signal or racer electrodes ltd and Hit are mounted within a housing M8, which is made of lead and suitably secured to the housing H38. It

extends through an opening 653 in the drill collar into the passageway 522 in the drill collar. The electrodes are in a reduced diameter portion of a passageway extending through housing M53. This reduced portion is connected by flaring portions I52 and lfid to the passageway i22 so that the drilling fluid flows downwardly through the passageway I22 and at an increased velocity past and in contact with the tracer electrodes.

The electrodes may be connected in a suitable manner with component parts of the types illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 located within the compartment use. For example, the tracer electrodes are connected by a pair of conductors Ebb in parallel with the logging electrodes by the pair of conductors I58 and these may in turn be connected to apparatus of the type illustrated in compartment ea in Figure 3. The apparatus located within the compartment ms has not been illustrated in Figure 4, but it may include a voltage source, such as a battery or the like, a reversing switch, and an electronic spontaneous or natural potential circuit. This unillustrated apparatus may be of a character disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 783,280.

In the construction of the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the component parts are first assembled in the compartment led and the latter is then closed by its cover plate l l'rl. Iihe tracer electrode housing hit with its electrodes is then secured in placeor it can be secured before the cover plate is fastened. To facilitate assembly, the electrode conductors E56 may include plug and socket type connections between housings i3 3 and ME. The thus assembled apparatus is placed into the drill collar and secured to the latter as by the securing screws 55% (see Fig. 5).

The insulating sleeve i228 is then placed in position, after which the logging electrodes i353 and [32 are assembled and finally the drill bit 52 is secured to the lower end of the drill collar.

It may, therefore, be noted that the logging apparatus can readily be constructed and assembled in a drill collar. At the same time the construction provides a high velocity flow of mud past the tracer electrodes, thereby to wipe them clean and prevent polarization and the accumulation of colloids on the electrodes.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, compensation for variations in the rate of flow of the drilling fluid may be'effected at the earths surface instead of in the bore hole. An arrangement of this character usable with uncompensated tracer release is illustrated in Fig. 8. The compensating apparatushere illustrated includes a Wheatstone. bridge comprising four arms as follows: an ionization chamber lilfl, an ionization chamber Gill, a. resistor 4:62., and a resistor The bridge, circuit is energized by a battery connected between two. opposed terminals of the circuit, and the output voltage of the circuit as developed across the other two terminals thereof is delivered to. a direct current amplifier This amplifier delivers its output current through anelectrode assembly 4% to thegalvanometer coil of a recordingelement embodied in a strip recorder till.

The two ionization chambers 4% and 49! are of a conventional type preferably havinga capacity of 1 liter and filled with argon at atmospheres. The resistors 582 and 483 have values of l 10 and 2- 10, ohms, respectively. The amplifier 485 is a conventional direct current amplifier capable of a large direct current output, and the electrodes ldtconsist of twogroups, each comprising a series of spaced metallic electrode plates. The electrode plates belonging to these two groups are alternately interconnected as shown in the figure, and the anode group of plates contains. a radio active material which is identical to the one used in the electrode ring 29. It will be seen that the resistor 433 has twice the ohmic value of the resistor 462 and, consequently, the Wheatstone bridge is balanced only when the resistance of the ionization chamber ilm is twice the resistance of the ionization chamber till, i. e., when the radioactivity; of the mud in the immediate neighborhood of the ionization chamber $28 is one-half the radioactivity of the mud in the immediate. neighborhood of, the ionization chamber 46! In the operation of-the detecting apparatus just described, the electrodes 4%, when supplied by a current from the amplifier M5 place the radioactive tracer material in solution in the mud at a rate determined by the magnitude of the output current of the amplifier 655. When the radioactivity in the neighborhood of the ionization chamber 40% is less than twice the radioactivity in the neighborhood-of the ionization chamber lt il, the Wheatstone bridge is unbalanced and a voltage representative of the degree of this unbalance is supplied to the amplifier 4.65. Since the output terminals of the amplifier are connected to deliver the amplifier output current to the electrodes 336, the current passing between the electrodes 395 in'thedrilling 'fluid-is proportional to the unbalance in :theWheatstone bridge. The radioactive material of which the electrodes ite are made is. dissolved in the'drilling fluid "in accordance with the variation of the current traversing the electrodes in the exact manner previously explained. Thisprocess continues until the radioactivity of the mud in the neighborhood of the ionization chamber GM is raised: to a bridge balance. value or almost twice the value of the radioactivity in theneighborhood of the ionization chamber As this balance is approached, the voltage input to the amplifier 4535 becomes relatively small.

Assume now that the-radioactivlty-of the mud stream flowing out or the drill hole towards the ionization chamber tilt increases from a value at which-a balanced condition or" the system'prevails. Insresponse to this radioactivity increase, theputput voltage of the bridge circuit immediately increases, thus causing more radioactive material to be dissolved'into the mud stream by the electrodes 46% until the system balance is again established. On the other hand, if the radioactivity of the mud coming out of the casing towards the ionization chamber sec decreases, then the output voltage of the bridge circuit is correspondingly decreased, thus causing less radioactive material to be dissolved into the mud stream by the electrodes set until a condition of system balance is again established. It will thus be understood that the radioactivity in the neighborhood of ionization chamber id! is always maintained about twice the radioactivity in the neighborhood or ionization chamber 590, and that the unbalance or output voltage of the Wheatstone bridge circuit is a measure of the radioactivity which is added to the mud stream to maintain such a relationship.

It will also be apparent that the current passing through the electrodes 156 varies with the radioactivity content of the drilling mud in accordance with a relationship that is similar to the one between the current passing through the electrode ring and the corresponding amount of radioactive tracer dissolved into the mud. The arrangement comprising the electrode ring 28 can be visualized as a transducer converting the different current intensities into corresponding quantities of radioactivity. The arrangement comprising the electrodes 3:35 is an inverse transducer, which reconverts the radioactivity that has migrated to the earths surface back into an electrical current which flows from the output terminals of the amplifier ace. The magnitude of this current is recorded by the strip recorder 40? provides a reliable index of the formation conductivity which is obviously made independent of fluctuations of the mud velocity and of the natural decay of the radioactive tracer material in electrode 28.

A further embodiment of the invention for providing compensation at the surface of the earth for variations in carrier fluid velocity is illustrated in Fig. 9. In this arrangement, compensation is provided by multiplying the signal strength by the speed of the carrier fluid flow. The amplitude of the signal detected at the earths surface is inversely proportional to the velocity of the carrier fluid so that compensation can be obtained by multiplying the signal with the rate of flow.

The apparatus includes an ionization chamber 502 mounted in a fiuid conducting conduit 5%. Its output is connected to the input 555 of a conventional direct current amplifier, the output of which is, in turn, connected by conductors 538 and 5H3 to the input of an indicator-recorder hi2. The amplifier output circuit is connected also to a variable resistor 5H5 which is adjusted in accordance with the fluid flow to provide the desired compensation. The resistance is varied by a movable conductin element 526 engageable therewith and which is connected, together with one end of the resistor, to the amplifier output. The position of arm 556 is varied in accordance with the fluid how by a Bourdon spiral Elie con- .nected by conduit 52!! to the main fluid conduit 56% ahead of an orifice The spiral is mounted within a closed housing 52:; connected by a conduit 52%; to the main conduit the behind the orifice 522.

In operation, the ionization chamber 592 provides an electrical output indicative of the radioactivity present in the carrier fluid. Its output is amplified by the amplifier 5% and supplied to the recorder-indicator M2. The apparatus is calibrated for operation at some predetermined velocity of fluid. When the velocity varies, the

pressure drop across the orifice changes accordingly and the resistance 5M in the amplifier output circuit is varied by movement of the contact arm 5H5. This movement is such as to compensate for the Variation in radioactivity resulting from variation in the fluid velocity. As the fiuid velocity increases, the concentration of radioactive tracer in the fluid carrier decreases and the output of the amplifier also decreases. The variable resistance 5M in the circuit is increased in order to supply a greater portion of the amplifier output to the recorder, thereby to compensate for the effect of the increased fluid velocity.

As earlier indicated, another feature of the present invention is the provision of new and improved electrodes that are Well suited for performing the function of releasing the signal hearing radioactive material in the mud stream. In general, the electrode materials should meet three main requirements; first, they should be susceptible to neutron irradiation and be easily changeable into radioactive isotopes with gamma or beta radiation which can be easily measured and having desired half-lives; second the radioactive tracer material should be such that it can be dissolved, dispersed, or released in ordinary mud in quantities proportional to electric current flow; and third, the tracer material should be removable if the half-life is too long, so as to avoid an accumulation of that material in the mud which might interfere with the accuracy of subsequent measurements.

As far as the half-life of the first requirement is concerned, it should be of the order of hours if it is feasible to irradiate the material in place at the bottom of the hole with a neutron source and if it is impractical or dimcult to remove the material from the mud after its measurement at the surface. It can be of the order of days up to a week if it is impractical to irradiate the material in place at the bottom of the hole and if it is impractical or difiicult to remove the material from the mud after its measurement at the surface. The half-life can be unlimited if it is feasible to remove the material by simple means after its measurement at the surface.

The dissolution, dispersal or release, can be achieved in different ways. According to one way, a suitable radioactive anode metal is dissolved by an electrolytic dissolving action of the anodic-oxidation type accordin to the reaction where X stands for any suitable metal; n stands for valency or oxidation number of the metal, and E stands for the amount of negative electric charge to be neutralized at the anode when metal X is electrolytically dissolved.

The metal should:

1. Not be readily oxidized by water or oxygen like the alkali-metals, calcium, etc.

2. Not form an insoluble surface film of metal sulphate or chloride in mud, such as Would be the case with silver or lead electrodes.

3. Not form an insoluble hydroxide at the pH of the mud, as is the case with most metals of oxidation number three or higher.

4. Not form ions which may be reduced back to metal by the iron drill pipe and casing present in the well and thus deposited before reaching the surface, such as may be the case with metals which are relatively noble.

Some radioactive isotopes, which can be used n ece-pee making suitable fanodic-ioxidation type? electrodes, are:

Cd .(T /g 2.3a, 1.11 m. e. v. 3)

(T 4301, 1.5 111.6. v. ,8, 0.5 in. e. v. 'y)

Co (T 5.34 (1.3 m. e. v. 5, 1.1. and 1.3

Y m. e. v. v)

Cu (T 12.8h, 6.6 m. e. ,v. 5)

Fe (T add, 6.26 and 0.48 m. e. v. 5, 1.1 and I 1.3 m. e. v.

The electrolytic dissolving .actioncan also be of the cathodic reduction type, whereby va compound is reduced to a metal with a simultaneous liberation of negative ions. This makesit impossible to'use some 'nonmetallic tracers, suchas Some. pertinent considerations follow: 1. The use of insoluble-bromides, iodides, sulactive isotopes of the nonmetallic elementsbromine, iodine, sulphur, phosphorus, etc.

2. Thecompound should bedepositedon-a conductor, which would. serve as the electrode. The

is also used in the compoundthe compound being prepared by electrolytic deposition (e. g., Agll could be deposited on metallic Ag byiel'ectrolytic oxidation).

The compound used must be veryinsoluble in the mud stream and must strongly adhere to the supporting electrode, while electrolytic-comm.

I (T /2 8d, 0.6 In. e. ,v. c, 0.36? and\0..08 m. e. v. 'y,) P (T /2 143d, 1.69 m. e. v. 5) S (T 87.1(2, 0.1.7 in. e. V. B)

The electrolytic dissolving action .can be indirect when a nonradioactive metal anode acts only as a carrier for a ncnmeta-llic substancev such as radioactive phosphorus, sulphur, etc., which is dissolved in and chemically com-bined'with the nonradioactive anode metal. When theanode dissolves under the influence of the electric current, the nonmetallic radioactive substance dispersed in it will be released at the same time proportion to the dissolution of the metal, and can therefore be made to act like 'a quantitative tracer.

The tracer materials can also be removed in a numbe; of Ways. One is by electrochemical means Without applied voltage. If the tracer is a metal whose ions are .sent in solution into the mud by the electrolytic current-at the. bottom of the hole (anodic oxidation type), the ions can be removed after measurementat the-surface by bringing the mud inintense contact with a less noble metal. For instance, if radioactive eadin. e. v. e Iii-capture, 1.14:,

zmium is :used as a tracer mater-iaLitcan be pre cipitated from the mud after measurement by bringing it in close contact with; baser 'metals such as zinc, "magnesium or aluminum. These metals, having .a higher solution potential than Cd-,'wi1l then dissolve and take the place of the no'bler tracer ions, which are reduced to the 'metallic state and thereby removed from the mud.

An equipment for removing the radioactive tracer. in the above described manner is shown diagrammaticallyas the chamber scam Fig. 1. Before the mud isallowed to return to the slush 1 .pit it is passed through the chamber which contains apparatus for removing the radioactive material Jtrom .therhud byan electric process which consists in providing materials having a large area of' contact, with the mud. The. materials possess Jan electric property such that they will tend toreplace any'metals that are in solution in;the drilling "fluid; These materialscouldbe either metallic surfaces of a metal higher in the electrochemical series of elements or electrodes phates, phosphates, etc, permitsthe use of radioconductor couldbemade of the. same metal, which I that are artificially charged from an external source of M. F.

tee "and because magnesium, aluminum or zinc are higher in the electromotive series, the magnesimum, aluminum or zincmetal will tend to i I replace :the radiocadmium that is in the solution in the drilling fluid. Insteadofmagnesium, aluminum or zinc pellets any other suitable material that is higher in the electromotive force series of elements, as, for example, manganesachromium, beryllium, etc can be used.

In a special case, where a material such as radio-iodine is injected as a tracer into the mud stream by means of the cathodicreduction process, it is feasible to remove this tracer after measurement by bringing the mud in intimate contact with certain noble metals such as silver :or copper on which a coating of silver or copper iodide 'willform.

Another way to remove "the tracer is by electrochemical means and the use of an applied It is feasible to achieve removal of metallic contaminants from the mud through electrolytic reduction and deposition on electrodes .by means of application of the proper voltage. In this case special means must be provided to periodically remove colloid accumulation on the anode. An arrangement of this character is shown in Fig. 11'. It comprises a series of parallel plates Bill and M2 in chamber 6% whichare interconnected so that alternate plates are connected to one side of the battery 616. and the other set ofplates is connected to the other side of the battery. The difference of potential applied produces an electric field which extracts the ions of radiotracer material by plating them on to the surface of the electrodes 516 and 612.

It has been found that an arrangement such as shown in Fig. 11 clogs with colloidal particles from the drilling fluid that adhere to the -surface of the electrode .610. This can be limited by momentarily reversing the potential to throw 011;

oxidation-aeration process.

'the battery 6M. This can be done readily by a switch 6l8 driven by a geared synchronous motor 620 arranged momentarily and periodically to connect battery GIG into the circuit in such a way that a strong reverse current is produced for a very short period of time.

A further way to remove the tracer is by an In the special case where a radioactive element such as iodine is injected into the mud stream by means of the cathodic-reduction process, it is feasible to re- "move the tracer material by oxidizing and removing it as iodine vapor by aerating the mud stream.

Work thus far indicates that excellent results are obtainable with cadmium. It is susceptible to neutron irradiation and produces a radioisotope Cd which is both a gamma and beta emitter of suitable half-life (2.8 and 43 days). Cadmium also dissolves into ordinary rotary mud in quantities proportional to the current applied. The reaction is quantitative and appears to be very little affected by temperature variations and by the length of the current impulses. Even impulses as short as one second produce proportional results. Cadmium, furthermore, is less noble than iron and will therefore not plate out on the drill pipe on the Way to the surface. It can, however, be removed from the mud by bringing it into intense contact with baser metals, such as zinc, aluminum or magnesium after measurement, without the use of an applied voltage. a

In so far as the cathodic reduction of compounds is concerned, such a process using silver or mercuric iodide as cathode material can be used with radioactive iodine as tracer material. It has a half-life of eight days and will not plate out on the drill pipe and can be removed after measurement in a fairly simple manner by either contact with metallic silver or copper or by oxidation-aeration. Next to radio-cadmium. radio-iodine appears now to be the most practical tracer material.

While the present invention has been described in connection with details of certain illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that these details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of transmitting signals to the surface of the earth from within a bore holeextending into the earth which comprises: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing a detectable tracer signal into the" said fluid stream within the bore hole;- detecting the thus introduced tracer signal in the said fluid stream arriving at the surface; and compensating for changes in said signal resulting from variations in the rate of flow of the said fluid.

2. The method of determining at the surface of the earth values of a formation characteristic at a subsurface location within a bore hole extending into the earth which comprises: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing a characteristic-inclicating radioactive tracer signal into the fluid stream within the bore hole; detecting the thus introduced tracer signal in the said fluid stream arriving at the said surface to obtain an indica- -tion representative of the value of said characteristic; and compensating for changes in the introduction of said tracer signal into said fluid stream resulting from variations in the rate of flow of the said fluid.

3. The method of determining at the surface of the earth values of'a formation characteristic within a. bore hole extending into the earth which comprises: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; releasing a radioactive tracer into said stream of fluid within the bore hole at a rate proportional to the value of said characteristic and proportional to the rate of flow of the fluid; and detecting and measuring the tracer in the fluid stream arriving at the surface to obtain an indication of the value'of said characteristic.

4. The method of determining at the surface of the earth values of a quantity to bemeasured within a bore hole extending into the earth which comprises: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing a detectable tracer into the fluid within the bore hole at a rate proportional to the value of the quantity to be'measured; detecting and measuring the concentration of the thus introduced tracer arriving in the fluid stream at points spaced apart along the direction of flow of the said stream at the surface; locally adding'tracer to said carrier fluid stream between said points in amount suflicient substantially to' compensate for changes in such concentration resulting from variations due to said introduction of tracer into the fluid within the bore hole; and recording a' measure of the amount of locally added tracer.

5. The method of determining at the surface of the earth values of a quantity to be measured within a bore hole extending into the earth which comprises: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing'a detectable tracer into the said fluid Within the bore hole at a rate indicative of the value of said quantity, measuring the tracer in the said fluid arrival'at the surface; and modifying the magnitude of the measurement thus obtained by a factor bearing a predetermined functional rela-. tionship to the rate of flow of the fluid. '6. Apparatus for transmitting a signal to 'the surface of the earth from within a bore hole ex tending into the earth including; fluid circulating means for circulating a stream of carrier fluid into'and out of the bore hole; movable detectable tracer supplying means for introducing a detectable tracer signal into said stream of fluid within the bore hole; tracer detecting and measuring means at the surface of the earth' for measuring the thus introduced tracer in the said fluid arriving at the surface; and means associated with said measuring means for compnsat ing the measurement for changes resulting from variations in the rate of flow of the said fluid.

7. Apparatus for determining at the surface, of the earth values of a quantity to be measured within a bore hole extending into the earth in: cluding; fluid circulating means for circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; movable detectable tracer supplying means for introducing a detectable tracer into said stream of fluid within the bore hole at a rate indicative of the value of said quantity; a pair, of similar, spaced apart tracer detecting meansv adjacent the fluid stream at the surface of the earth, capable of detecting the quantity oftracer in the said fluid arriving at the surface in said stream; bridge means including one of said detecting means in each of adjacent legs thereof, said bridge means being balanced when .the concentration of tracer. in the said fluid in the region of one of said detecting means bears a. predetermined ratio to the concentration of tracer in the said fluid in the region of theother detecting means, tracer releasing means for releasing tracer into the said fluid stream between said detecting means; means controlled bysaid bridge means for controlling the said release of tracer by said last mentioned releasing means in accordance with a function of the unbalance of said bridge means; and means for indicating ameasure of the amount of tracer released by said tracer releasing means.

8. Apparatus for determining at the surface of the earth values of a quantity to be measured within a bore hole extending into the earth including; fluid circulating means for circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; movable detectable tracer supplying'means for introducing a detectable tracer into the said stream of fluid within the ,borehole at a rate indicative of the value of said quantity; tracer detecting means at the surface of the earth rcsponsive to the quantity of the tracer in the said stream of fluid to produce an electric signal indicative of said quantity of tracer; variable resistance means in circuit with said detecting means to vary said electric signal; and fluid rate of flow responsive means operatively connected to said resistance means to vary said, resistance to compensate said signal for changes resulting therein from variation in the rate of flow of the said fluid.

9. Bore hole logging apparatus for logging .a borehole in conjunction with a. carrier fluid circulating through the bore hole including: a pair of spaced apart electrodes at least one or which is capable of releasing a radioactive tracer into such fluid upon the application of a voltage across the electrodes when in contact with such fluid; voltage supply means including a variablevoltage generator connected to the said electrodes for supplying a voltage between the said electrodes,

and means actuated by the flow of, said carrier outsidesaid element, said electrodes being insulated from one another and adapted to make electrical contact with said carrier fluid; radioactivity shield located between the two pairs of electrodes; and means to supply said tracer electrodes with current having a predetermined relation to the resistance of the current path including said fluid between said logging electrodes.

11. Bore hole signaling apparatus including: an element adapted to be lowered into the bore hole and through which a carrier fluid may flow; structure defining a passageway of reduced size within said element through which the fluid flows at a higher velocity than through the remainder of the element; and a pair of tracer electrodes mounted within said passageway and adapted to be wiped by the fluid flowing therethrough, at least one of said electrodes including a releasable radioactive tracer material.

12. Bore hole signaling apparatus including: an element adapted to be lowered. into the bore hole and through which and outside of. which carrier fluid may flow; a. pairof spaced apart tracer electrodes within said element, in position to be in electrical contact with the carrier fluid flowing through said element, at least one of said tracer electrodes being capable of releasing tracer material into said, carrier fluid by flow of an electric current between said tracer electrodes and through carrier fluid therebetween; a pair of spaced apart logging electrodes outside said element, in position to be in electrical contact with carrier fluid flowing. outside of said element; means for electrically connecting said two pairs of. electrodes in parallel, and electric: current supply means connected in parallel; with said parallel connected pairs of electrodes.

13. Bore holes logging apparatus including an element adapted to be'lowered into the bore. hole and through which and outside of which carrier fluid may flow; a pair of spaced, tracer releasi electrodes positioned. within said element and a pair of spaced logging electrodes positioned outside said element; said pairs of electrodes bein located for electrical contact with said fluid flowing inside and outside of said element, respectively; means for electrically connecting said two pairs of electrodes in parallel; a source 01! voltage; and means including a periodically operable reversing switch for connecting said parallel connected pairs of electrodes across said voltage source at periodically reversed polarities.

14. Bore hole signalling apparatus including: a pair of spaced electrodes, at least one of: which include a releasable radioactive tracer material; a source of voltage; and means including a lie-- riodic-ally operable reversing switch for connecting said electrodes to said voltage source at periodically reversedpolarities.

15. Bore hole signalling apparatus including: an element adapted to be lowered into the bore hole; a lead; cylinder mounted within said element; a housing mounted within said cylinder including a restricted fluid passage therethrough and a sealed compartment; a direct current generator mounted within said compartment; a generator driving mean mounted within said passageway and drivingly coupled to said generator; a pair of tracer releasing electrodes in said passageway; means including a reversing switch operable by the generator drivingmeans for electrically connecting the said electrodes across said generator; an insulating sleeve surrounding said element; a pair of logging electrodes mounted on the outside of said sleeve in spaced relation; and means including electrical connections for connecting said last mentionedv electrodes in par.- allel with said tracer releasing electrodes.

16. Logging apparatus insertable into a bore hole and usable in connection with a carrier fluid circulating through the bore hole including: a pair of radioactive tracer releasing electrodes located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid; a pair of logging electrodes also located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid and adjacent the side walls of the bore hole so that when a voltage is applied ,thereacros current flows therebetween through the earths formation in their vicinity; conductors connecting'said pairs of electrodes in parallel; and a substantially constant current voltage supply connected across saidparallel connected pairs of electrodes.

1'7. Logging apparatus insertable into a bore hole and usable in connection with a carrier fluid circulating through the bore hole including: a pair of radioactive tracer or signal electrodes 21 located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid; a pair of logging electrodes also located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid and adjacent the side walls of the bore hole so that when a voltage is applied thereacross the current flows therebetween through the earths formation in their vicinity; conductors connecting said pairs of electrodes in parallel; constant current voltage supply means; and means including a reversing switch connecting said supply means across said parallel connected pairs of electrodes.

18. Logging apparatus insertable into a bore hole and usable in connection with a carrier fluid circulating through the bore hole including: a pair of radioactive tracer-releasing electrodes located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid; a pair of logging electrodes also located in the path of flow of the carrier fluid and adjacent the side walls of the bore hole so that when a voltage is applied thereacross current flows therebetween through the earths formation in their vicinity; conductors connecting said pairs of electrodes in parallel; and means including voltage supply means connected across said parallel connected pairs of electrodes for varying the current flow across said tracer-releasing electrodes substantially directly in proportion to the variation in resistivity of the said earths formation.

19. The method of bore hole signal transmission including: circulating a fluid into and out of the bore hole; releasing a detectable radioactive tracer into the said fluid within the bore hole at a rate proportional to the velocity of the said fluid and at a rate bearing a predetermined functional relationship to said signal to be transmitted; detecting the tracer at the surface of the earth; and then removing a portion of the tracer from the said fluid.

20. Bore hole signal transmission apparatus including: means for circulating a fluid stream into and out of the bore hole; means for substantially continuously releasing a detectable radioactive tracer into the said fluid stream Within the bore hole in an amount indicative of the signal to be transmitted; means for detecting the tracer in said fluid stream arriving at the surface of the earth; and means for substantially continuously removing tracer from the said fluid stream.

21. The method of determining, at the surface of the earth, values of a physical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a bore hole extending into the earth, comprising: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the bore hole; controlling the rate of said introduction in accordance with a predetermined function of the said values to be measured and in direct proportion to the rate of flow of said fluid stream at said point of introduction of said tracer; and measuring the concentration of the thus introduced tracer in the said fluid stream arriving at the said surface of the earth to obtain a measure there, representative of the said values to be determined.

22. The method of determining, at the surface of the earth, values of a physical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a bore hole extending into the earth, comprising: circulating a stream of carrier fluid into and out of the bore hole; introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the bore hole; varying the rate of said introduction in a manner indicative of the said values to be i "l I measured, and in a manner compensating for changes in rate of flow of said fluid stream at said point of introduction of said tracer; and detecting the variations in the thus introduced tracer in the said fluid stream arriving at the said surface of the earth to obtain a signal indicative of the said values to be determined.

23. Borehole signalling apparatus including an element adapted to be lowered into a borehole; a passageway through said element through which carrier fluid may flow; and an electrode mounted within said passageway and positioned therein to be in electrical contact with fluid flowing through said passageway, said electrode comprising a material containing a detectable tracer and electrically dissoluble into said fluid when a current flows between said electrode and said fluid.

24. The method of determining, at the surface of the earth, values of a physical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a borehole out of which a stream of carrier fluid is flowing, comprising: introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the borehole in response to and at a rate which is significant of said values of said quantity to be measured and substantially proportional to the rate of flow of said fluid stream at the said point of introduction of said tracer; and making measurements in response to and indicative of the concentration of the thus-introduced tracer in said fluid stream arriving at the said surface, whereby the measurements thus made are substantially independent of the rate of flow of said fluid stream and are representative of the values of said physical quantity.

2-5. The method of determining, at the surface of the earth, values of a physical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a borehole out of which a stream of carrier fluid is flowing, comprising: introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the borehole in response to and at a rate which is significant of said values of said quantity to be measured; making measurements in response to and indicative of the concentration of the thus-introduced tracer in said fluid stream arriving at the said surface; and compensating the measurements thus made in accordance with the rate of flow of said stream, whereby the compensated measurements thus made are substantially independent of the rate of flow of said fluid stream and are representative of the said values of said physical quantity.

26. Apparatus for determining, at the surface of the earth, values of a physical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a borehole out of which a stream of carrier fluid is flowing, comprising: means adapted to be located within a borehole and for introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the borehole in response to and at a rate which is significant of said values of said quantity to be measured and substantially proportional to the rate of flow of said fluid stream at the said point of introduction of said tracer; and means for making measurements in response to and indicative of the concentration of the thus-introduced tracer in said fluid stream arriving at the said surface, whereby the measurements thus made are substantially inde-- pendent of the rate of flow of said fluid stream and are representative of the said values of said physical quantity.

27. Apparatus for determining, at the surface 23 of the earth, values of aophysical quantity to be measured at subsurface locations within a borehole out :of which a stream of carrier fluid is flowing, comprising: means adapted to be located within -.a borehole and for introducing a radioactive tracer into said fluid stream at a point within the borehole in response to and at a rate which is significant of said values of said quantity to be measured; means fer making measurements in response .to and indicative of the concentration :of the thus-introduced tracer in said fluid stream arriving at the said surface; and means for compensating the measurements thus made in accordance with the rate of flow of said stream, whereby the compensated measurements thus :made are substantially independent of the rate of flow of said'fluid stream and are representative of the said values of said physical quantity.

JAN JACOB ARPS.

Name Date Hoopes Apr. 21, 1925 Number Number 2,147 6 Q3 2,182,087 azeaesa 12,2!36 ,922 2,22 0,205 2,22 51,668 2,241,154 2,2414 17 2,265,355 2,313,384 2338 ,1'74 2,339,129 2,37 1,653 2,4: 3 6;Q0'8 2,440,999 2,4 68,905 2,48 0,674; 2 597,35 1

' Name I Date: ,Hackstafi etwal'. w-.. July 9, 3.929 Dudley Feb. 21., .1939 Leverenz Dec. 5,, 1 939 Fermi et a1. July 2,. 1-949 Smith ,m July-9, 1940 Buckley Nov. 5, 19950 Subkow et a1. Dec/24,1946 Neuf-eid c, May 15,, 1941 Silverman et.a1. July 1,1941 Chun Dec. 16, 1941 Lee Mar. 9, i943 Garrison Jan. 4, 1944 Albentson Wane--- Jan 11, 194* Stewart Mar. 20, 1M5 Krasnow et a1. Feb. 177, 1948 Anderson V- May 4,, .1948 Warren, Jr. May 3, 1949 Russell Aug. 30, 1949 Scherbatskoy -7 May 9, 1955

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